Chapter 2 - Getting Started on the Merchant Dashboard API

For Quick Start development .zip files with code are supplied for the PHP, Java and .NET as a starting point. Each languages .zip file contents were generated by Swagger Codegen to provide server stubs and documentation.

The PHP Quick Start development .zip is explained below to help in understanding how to use the .zip contents. The Java and .NET files can be used in a similar way.

PHP

Java

.NET

A downloadable PHP code sample is provided in the link below and includes wrapper classes that make it easier to interact with the API from PHP applications. The PHP code also provides examples that can be incorporated into real-world integrations.

In the unpacked folder contents find and open the sample.php file. This file provides an example that calls the API to retrieve Credit and ACH transaction information for the hardcoded date range.

Run sample.php on the command line. Running the example retrieves Credit and ACH transaction information for the hardcoded date range then outputs the retrieved information to the console or the Web browser. Shown below is a sample of the returned information for a single Credit transaction:

To aid in your development, if you desire, a Swagger/Open API specification for the Merchant Dashboard API is also provided in a YAML based machine-readable file. The specification file describes all the API’s capabilities. To use this information knowledge of the Swagger/Open API specification and YAML are required.

The Merchant Dashboard API has a Developer Portal with a Sandbox Testing environment. The Sandbox is based upon apigee and uses the apigee interface to provide for testing and experimentation with the Merchant Dashboard API. The Sandbox is intended to provide a way to quickly test and see the information returned by the API in order to become familiar with the API and what information it returns.

The Sandbox IS NOT intended to be an example of how you would use the API in production. The use of the API in production will require the developer to utilize the returned information in some way to create a presentation of that information that is meaningful to the Partner’s users. How each partner uses the API and presents the returned information is up to each partner to design to fit their needs.

To utilize the Sandbox, you first need to obtain your Testing Credentials. Once you have your Testing Credentials you then utilize those credentials in the Sandbox to run tests that return example information. The steps to get your Testing Credentials and an example test run are shown below.

To utilize the Sandbox Testing environment, you will first need a set of Testing Credentials that provides access to the testing environment and information. To get your Testing Credentials you can register as a test user with an Integration Analyst or Implementation Manager, or use the generic test credentials provided below for immediate access:

Go to the Sandbox Tools section of the Developer Innovation Center and select Merchant Dashboard API, or use the direct link below:

Please do not give away your unique Testing Credentials to anyone. If you would like to get started with sandbox testing immediately without registering, please utilize the Generic Test Credentials below::
Username: apiuser
Password: !@Mopicyn
startDate: 2017-08-01
endDate: 2017-09-26
These credentials will provide immediate access to Merchant Dashboard API test functionality with a set of data for demonstration purposes.

Once you have the email with your Testing Credentials you can use the Sandbox Testing environment to extract ACH, Credit, Authorization, Dispute, Funding and Batch Transaction example information. Each unique GET operation determines the type of transaction information being extracted by the Merchant Dashboard API. See the Available Operations in the Merchant Dashboard API section for the Sandbox Resource URL for each type of transaction.

The pop-up window closes putting you back on the screen shown in Step 2. Your Testing Credentials are now saved for this session only.

On the screen shown in Step 2 enter:

startDate: 2017-08-01 (YYYY-MM-DD)
endDate: 2017-09-26 (YYYY-MM-DD)

Then click the “Send this request” button. Clicking this button sends the request to the Merchant Dashboard API for processing and the request will generate a JSON file with sample results for you to view.

When the processing is complete, select the Request tab on the screen shown in Step 2 to view the actual request information. This information is shown below: